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last updated: 9 May 2009

To a lot of people this would seem like far too long to be without a job, but I'm finding it easy to adjust to. One thing that makes it easier is that I decided very early on that there were unlikely to be any vacancies around the Christmas/New Year period, and that it would take a long time for the dust to settle in early 2009. This decision made it simple for me to 'allow' myself to take a sabbatical of nearly three months, and head home to the other side of the world. Happily distracted by spending time with friends and family, unemployment was definitely a positive, and something to appreciate.

A large part of being OK with my unemployed status is obviously my ability to keep paying my bills and managing to eat. While I'm gradually nibbling away at my savings, I don't feel any financial pressure to hurry up and get a job. If I was stressed out about money, I'm sure I'd be taking the first job that I could find.

I took redundancy a few weeks before a large number of my ex-colleagues were then given the boot. Only a couple of them have subsequently found new jobs, the rest are still looking.

But one theme I would say is quite common amongst ex-colleagues and other unemployed friends is that people are now looking for more than just a pay cheque. Perhaps it's because the global nature of the current economic crisis has raised awareness of the excess we had all started to expect as part of life, but it seems that for most people, being out of work for the longest time in their lives has given them time to think about what's important. And maybe having now spent months with their families and friends, the dawning realisation they had become strangers in favour of working is a sacrifice they're no longer prepared to make.

All I know is that almost everyone I've spoken to is looking to work for a company they can be proud to work for, or to change industries to work in an area where they feel they contribute something to society. Almost all are willing to take less money in order to achieve this goal.

When you have no income and no sense of when you might, it's incredibly easy to distinguish between what you want and what you need. You need a place to sleep and something to eat - but it turns out you can make do with last season's wardrobe! So perhaps people have realised that they don't need as much income as they thought. And perhaps that means revised expectations of what they'll demand in a material sense.

In my case, this means being happy with what I've got. And wanting to explore more creative pursuits, such as writing and art, which would never earn me City money, but which might actually be satisfying. I'm still applying for 'real' jobs as they pop up. But I'm in no hurry to actually get one!

I have had two interviews in the six weeks I've actually been looking for a job, which seems to be a good hit rate based on purely anecdotal evidence. Both resulted in second interviews, which means I must still come across like I'm employable, which is important. But in both cases, I walked out of the interviews hoping that I wouldn't be made an offer. In one case the role required the outsourcing of the bulk of the team of seventy, no doubt to some cut-price-sweat-shop alternative, and I just couldn't bear the thought of instigating that. It would seem impolite to refuse a job offer in today's climate, but luckily, they sensed my lack of cut-throat determination and offered to someone else.

So I'll keep looking, and hope to find something that fulfils me in more than just a financial sense. Maybe there are only a few of us who have had this epiphany about not prioritising money over everything else, but I can't help think the world would be a better place for choosing satisfaction over cash for a change'.

Here Is The Writer : City Less

City Less is a pseudonym for a City girl who's a long way from home. Realising that the City is synonymous with greed, over-inflated egos and bad mannered old men, she is trying to change it from within. Smiling, holding doors open and saying 'good morning' - and whilst never failing to be amazed at the reaction to such strange behaviour - never giving in and joining the masses.

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For more Life stories, go to: http://life.hereisthecity.com